More Than Just Scary Faces

More Than Just Scary Faces

You sent us 300 gorgeous and ghoulish gourds for our 8th annual contest! We saw a wide range of fun famous faces, painted works of art, and plenty of creepy creatures. Click on to see which pumpkin carving we chose as 2015's grand-prize winner as well as the top 24 finalists. Plus, don't miss all 300 entries here.

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25. Hootie and the Blowfish

25. Hootie and the Blowfish

"We have an annual neighborhood pumpkin-lighting contest. Our Hootie and the Blowfish was a big hit! We used an owl template with normal pumpkin-carving tools and hot-glued hundreds of candy corn to make the blowfish." —Bethany F., Bucyrus, OH

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24. Oops, I Burped

24. Oops, I Burped

"We drove 500 miles cross-country with this nearly 100-pound pumpkin in the back of the car. We wanted our pumpkin to be special, with a face like no other. With nothing but a knife and a very big spoon, the kids and I were working away when suddenly the great pumpkin BURPED! Needless to say, everyone screeched and jumped back, and there he is." —Betty S., Bloomfield, MO

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23. Pumpkin Selfie

23. Pumpkin Selfie

"I kept it simple, but I thought this theme was very fitting to the time we are in. I used the basic carving kit from Target. I love the look of simple and traditional carvings." —Jaclyn L., Sherwood , OR

21. Classic Rocker

21. Classic Rocker

20. Warty Witch

20. Warty Witch

"This pumpkin was warty to begin with, so I figured what better way to embrace its beauty than by turning it into a witch! She was made with craft clay, acrylic paint, an old Halloween costume beard for her hair, miscellaneous tools, and my fingers!" —Molly W., Bothell, WA

18. Bunnicula Returns

17. Alien

17. Alien

"My pumpkin was inspired by the 'chestburster' in the movie Alien, though I think my alien is kind of cute. It's made out of a Buddha's hand fruit, with a pair of googly eyes attached with toothpicks. No fancy carving tools required—just a kitchen knife and a spoon!" —Elizabeth W., Manhattan, KS

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16. Trumpkin

16. Trumpkin

"My co-worker told me to carve a really scary pumpkin, a Donald Trump. So I sculpted this Trumpkin! I used wood-carving tools and a large knife. For the toupee, I cut off the top of the pumpkin and added guts for the hair." —Monique H., San Diego, CA

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15. Slimer

15. Slimer

"Inspired by the movie Ghostbusters, I carved Slimer into a large pumpkin and I added about 12 small containers' worth of glow-in-the-dark slime for an extra effect. I used a black light to make the slime glow even more. I created a background with proton streams, because we don't want this yucky, mischievous ghost running amok for very long, now, do we? I had a lot of fun creating him. Enjoy!" —Alicia T., Midwest City, OK

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14. Forest Owls

14. Forest Owls

"This is celebrating owls and forest foraging. Our little grandson helped gather twigs and leaves and was able to insert them for the feathers. I used a pumpkin-carving kit and old dental tools." —Pam C., Anchorage, AK

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13. BB-8-o'-Lantern

13. BB-8-o'-Lantern

"My husband and I enjoy carving pumpkins each year. Last year we discovered linoleum-cutting tools, which have made carving pumpkins a lot easier and given us the opportunity to do more with our pumpkins. My husband is a big Star Wars fan and had the idea early on to make the new droid, BB-8, that's featured in the upcoming Star Wars movie. He was adamant that the head-to-body ratio should be accurate. This is the first time we carved the entire pumpkin and used multiple pumpkins. I looked at images online and used random objects from around the house to make the circular designs. We used a Sharpie marker, linoleum-cutting tools, a power drill, two light sources, and LED lights controlled by an Arduino. We think we are the first to make a BB-8-o'-lantern. We had a lot of fun making it and we hope it inspires others to create their own version. May the force be with This Old House!" —Lorraine W., Berkeley, CA

11. Mean Pumpkin vs. Nice Pumpkin

11. Mean Pumpkin vs. Nice Pumpkin

"My son, Micah (who is 8 years old), came to me with his idea of a small, mean pumpkin carving a big, nice pumpkin. So we sat down and started to draw what he envisioned. This is what developed! Hope you enjoy as others have!" —Micah P., La Habra Heights, CA

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10. Scaredy Face

10. Scaredy Face

"Scaredy-face got a partial face transplantation (everyone was getting one). Unfortunately for him, the procedure didn't go well, and on top of that, the right half was not much of a conversationalist. The tools I used were basic pumpkin-carving tools from Kroger." —Soundar B., Charlottesville, VA

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9. Evil Minions

9. Evil Minions

"After seeing the Minions movie last summer, I was inspired to create the purple evil minions for my pumpkin theme this year at Halloween. It took me a while to figure out how to do their crazy hair. After trying many ideas, I went with purple wool for two of the pumpkins, and the other two were stuffing from a recycled stuffed animal. I spray-painted the hair purple. I used acrylic paint for the body of the pumpkin and recycled soup-can lids from my house and from a neighbor to paint their eyes. The M on their overalls was the empty paint-bottle lid, and I painted on it. The black overalls were made from recycled black pants. Their teeth were white mints from the local dollar store. I was able to construct all the pumpkins, fully decorated, for under $5.50. The pumpkins are displayed in the front of my brick house, ready for trick-or-treaters to view on Halloween." —Shelley B., Grimsby, Ontario

7. Skeleton Cut

6. Dungeness Crab

6. Dungeness Crab

"This is a giant Dungeness crab, with a snack. The hand is life-size, but I'm hoping the crab isn't. The body is made from an Atlantic Giant (I think) and the legs are made from a Long of Naples. The hand is carved from a chunk removed from the crab body. All of it is carved using various clay tools and small wood-carving chisels." —Mike C., Eureka, CA

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5. Scary Sea Creatures

5. Scary Sea Creatures

4. Hungry Pumpkin Monster

4. Hungry Pumpkin Monster

"We raided the fridge for embellishments to add to our hungry pumpkin man, knowing that later it would be munched up by the neighborhood moose! We used a pumpkin-carving kit and some dental tools." —Pam C., Anchorage, AK

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3. Franken Pumpkin

3. Franken Pumpkin

"The pumpkin I created is a blend of two types of pumpkin and some gourds for eyes. I used a small pumpkin-carving saw, large spoon to scoop out the insides, and a spike tool for creating the holes for threading. For the threading, I used black shoelaces. Lastly, I added in some crackle tubes to dress up the background. It's alive!" —Andrew S., Dunstable, MA

25×

2. Mad Science

2. Mad Science

"This creepy, mutated monster was the result of a mad science experiment gone bad. I used regular old kitchen knives to carve the pumpkin and then dressed it with some Halloween gummy eyeballs, homemade blood, and other household items." —Cynthia W., Cedar Creek, TX

More Than Just Scary Faces

You sent us 300 gorgeous and ghoulish gourds for our 8th annual contest! We saw a wide range of fun famous faces, painted works of art, and plenty of creepy creatures. Click on to see which pumpkin carving we chose as 2015's grand-prize winner as well as the top 24 finalists. Plus, don't miss all 300 entries here.

25. Hootie and the Blowfish

"We have an annual neighborhood pumpkin-lighting contest. Our Hootie and the Blowfish was a big hit! We used an owl template with normal pumpkin-carving tools and hot-glued hundreds of candy corn to make the blowfish." —Bethany F., Bucyrus, OH

24. Oops, I Burped

"We drove 500 miles cross-country with this nearly 100-pound pumpkin in the back of the car. We wanted our pumpkin to be special, with a face like no other. With nothing but a knife and a very big spoon, the kids and I were working away when suddenly the great pumpkin BURPED! Needless to say, everyone screeched and jumped back, and there he is." —Betty S., Bloomfield, MO

23. Pumpkin Selfie

"I kept it simple, but I thought this theme was very fitting to the time we are in. I used the basic carving kit from Target. I love the look of simple and traditional carvings." —Jaclyn L., Sherwood , OR

21. Classic Rocker

20. Warty Witch

"This pumpkin was warty to begin with, so I figured what better way to embrace its beauty than by turning it into a witch! She was made with craft clay, acrylic paint, an old Halloween costume beard for her hair, miscellaneous tools, and my fingers!" —Molly W., Bothell, WA

18. Bunnicula Returns

17. Alien

"My pumpkin was inspired by the 'chestburster' in the movie Alien, though I think my alien is kind of cute. It's made out of a Buddha's hand fruit, with a pair of googly eyes attached with toothpicks. No fancy carving tools required—just a kitchen knife and a spoon!" —Elizabeth W., Manhattan, KS

16. Trumpkin

"My co-worker told me to carve a really scary pumpkin, a Donald Trump. So I sculpted this Trumpkin! I used wood-carving tools and a large knife. For the toupee, I cut off the top of the pumpkin and added guts for the hair." —Monique H., San Diego, CA

15. Slimer

"Inspired by the movie Ghostbusters, I carved Slimer into a large pumpkin and I added about 12 small containers' worth of glow-in-the-dark slime for an extra effect. I used a black light to make the slime glow even more. I created a background with proton streams, because we don't want this yucky, mischievous ghost running amok for very long, now, do we? I had a lot of fun creating him. Enjoy!" —Alicia T., Midwest City, OK

14. Forest Owls

"This is celebrating owls and forest foraging. Our little grandson helped gather twigs and leaves and was able to insert them for the feathers. I used a pumpkin-carving kit and old dental tools." —Pam C., Anchorage, AK

13. BB-8-o'-Lantern

"My husband and I enjoy carving pumpkins each year. Last year we discovered linoleum-cutting tools, which have made carving pumpkins a lot easier and given us the opportunity to do more with our pumpkins. My husband is a big Star Wars fan and had the idea early on to make the new droid, BB-8, that's featured in the upcoming Star Wars movie. He was adamant that the head-to-body ratio should be accurate. This is the first time we carved the entire pumpkin and used multiple pumpkins. I looked at images online and used random objects from around the house to make the circular designs. We used a Sharpie marker, linoleum-cutting tools, a power drill, two light sources, and LED lights controlled by an Arduino. We think we are the first to make a BB-8-o'-lantern. We had a lot of fun making it and we hope it inspires others to create their own version. May the force be with This Old House!" —Lorraine W., Berkeley, CA

12. Dinnertime

11. Mean Pumpkin vs. Nice Pumpkin

"My son, Micah (who is 8 years old), came to me with his idea of a small, mean pumpkin carving a big, nice pumpkin. So we sat down and started to draw what he envisioned. This is what developed! Hope you enjoy as others have!" —Micah P., La Habra Heights, CA

10. Scaredy Face

"Scaredy-face got a partial face transplantation (everyone was getting one). Unfortunately for him, the procedure didn't go well, and on top of that, the right half was not much of a conversationalist. The tools I used were basic pumpkin-carving tools from Kroger." —Soundar B., Charlottesville, VA

9. Evil Minions

"After seeing the Minions movie last summer, I was inspired to create the purple evil minions for my pumpkin theme this year at Halloween. It took me a while to figure out how to do their crazy hair. After trying many ideas, I went with purple wool for two of the pumpkins, and the other two were stuffing from a recycled stuffed animal. I spray-painted the hair purple. I used acrylic paint for the body of the pumpkin and recycled soup-can lids from my house and from a neighbor to paint their eyes. The M on their overalls was the empty paint-bottle lid, and I painted on it. The black overalls were made from recycled black pants. Their teeth were white mints from the local dollar store. I was able to construct all the pumpkins, fully decorated, for under $5.50. The pumpkins are displayed in the front of my brick house, ready for trick-or-treaters to view on Halloween." —Shelley B., Grimsby, Ontario

7. Skeleton Cut

6. Dungeness Crab

"This is a giant Dungeness crab, with a snack. The hand is life-size, but I'm hoping the crab isn't. The body is made from an Atlantic Giant (I think) and the legs are made from a Long of Naples. The hand is carved from a chunk removed from the crab body. All of it is carved using various clay tools and small wood-carving chisels." —Mike C., Eureka, CA

5. Scary Sea Creatures

4. Hungry Pumpkin Monster

"We raided the fridge for embellishments to add to our hungry pumpkin man, knowing that later it would be munched up by the neighborhood moose! We used a pumpkin-carving kit and some dental tools." —Pam C., Anchorage, AK

3. Franken Pumpkin

"The pumpkin I created is a blend of two types of pumpkin and some gourds for eyes. I used a small pumpkin-carving saw, large spoon to scoop out the insides, and a spike tool for creating the holes for threading. For the threading, I used black shoelaces. Lastly, I added in some crackle tubes to dress up the background. It's alive!" —Andrew S., Dunstable, MA

2. Mad Science

"This creepy, mutated monster was the result of a mad science experiment gone bad. I used regular old kitchen knives to carve the pumpkin and then dressed it with some Halloween gummy eyeballs, homemade blood, and other household items." —Cynthia W., Cedar Creek, TX